OFW investment fund bill hurdles House on 2nd reading

February 21, 2019 | 9:38 pm
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OFW
PHILSTAR
A BILL establishing an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) sovereign fund made it past second reading at the House of Representatives.
House Bill No. 9025, or the OFW Sovereign Fund Act, approved via voice vote, hopes to provide OFWs and their families an alternative through which they can maximize their earnings.
If enacted, the bill will require the Bureau of the Treasury to create a special fund for investments of OFWs and covered relatives.
As provided, proceeds shall be allocated by the national government “to finance significantly urgent national government and private projects with strong emphasis on productive and job-generating industrial or agricultural projects.”
These include the establishment of private or government-owned and -controlled corporations, engaged in the petroleum industry, power generation, transmission and distribution, and information and communications technology industry, among others.
The bill also specified that the funds collected shall not be “released for current needs of the government like personnel services, maintenance and other operating expenses nor for any capital outlay, inconsistent with the aforementioned projects.”


It said investments in the Sovereign fund are tax-exempt.
Section 7 of the bill states that earnings from “their investments in the bonds or other debt or investment instruments that the government shall issue in the implementation of this Act, shall be exempted from any and all kinds of taxes.”
The Sovereign Fund will be open to all present and former migrant workers, and immediate family such as their parents, spouses and children. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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